Miracle in Lilycove
by AltoGuardian
Summary: It's another commercialized Christmas in Lilycove city, and Esteban is having trouble surviving it. However, when he has to help save a not so innocent virgin and a powerful Riolu from the mafia; he comes to see that true Christmas Spirit still exists.
1. Part One: The Alleyways

**Merry Christmas, Everyone. I decided to give the gift of a surprise Christmas story! It will be updated everyday until Christmas. This is a prequel _Aura Guardian: Secret of Altomare_. In case anyone is wondering, yes I will update that story before 2009. I even think it is ridiculous how long I have been putting it off, but hopefully this surprise story will make y'all feel better. Just so you know, I only just got the idea for this a week ago, and I have been writing frantically to get it done in time for Christmas, so don't expect perfect grammar and whatnot. Merry Christmas, and enjoy!**

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**Part One: The Alleyways  
**  
I stood along the street staring at the window display of the Lilycove Department Store. It was a dazzling display of toys and games and whatnots. There were several Pokémon dolls and animatronics that were practically screaming, "Buy Here! Buy Now!" I scowled at the display.

"Come on, Esteban, it's Christmas Eve! Lighten up and have some Christmas Spirit!" said my Teacher to me who was standing next to me. She was holding a bag if mixed nuts. She took a walnut out, cracked it in her fingers using a small blast of aura, and three the shell away. "Walnut?" she offered.

I took the nut and ate it. "Christmas Spirit? I am full of Christmas Spirit! This," I motioned to the window display, "is just commercialization to the extreme! This yells 'buy' not 'give'. It's not showing the true meaning of Christmas. You know that not once this year have I seen a single Nativity scene? All I see is just some 'Non-denominational winter solstice post-harvest festival day' crap!"

She cracked another nut and ate it. "I see that. But you are aware that this is not the most Christian part of the world, right? There are people here that worship Arceus as their god, and there's nothing wrong with that. Just accept what you see and tonight we can go to Midnight Mass. I hear that is a Christmas pageant tonight nearby telling the story of the Nativity. You would like that."

After she said that I calmed down. "Sorry, Teacher, it's just that every year it's the same. Christmas has just become too commercialized." We were in silence for a moment; well, as much silence as there can be on a busy city street. We continued eating mixed nuts before I said, "We should probably get to training. It's still early in the day, and I'm still having trouble forming shields."

"Not today, Esteban. It's Christmas Eve. It's a time of merriment. You have the day off. Go have some fun. Besides," she moved towards the store, "I need to go shopping."

I started massaging my forehead and shaking my head. "Not you too..."

"Relax, we are getting low on supplies and I need to restock. If I don't see you later, I'll see you at the pageant. Merry Christmas." With that, she left me in bewildered silence to go shopping.

I sat down at a nearby bench. "You are acting very strange today, Teacher," I said to myself. In the middle of December, it can get cold in Lilycove. My duster was keeping me warm, but some of the people walking by me gave curious glanced at my rune covered staff.

I sat there for a couple more minutes until I saw a curious site. Walking down the street was a small Riolu, which were not native to Hoenn. As it walked down the street, it would occasionally reach up and grab a wallet out of an unsuspecting victim. I raised an eyebrow and looked around, but only I seemed to notice the odd sight of a Riolu picking multiple pockets without being noticed. It walked by me picking more pockets. Having nothing better to do after being abandoned by my Teacher, I got up and started following the Riolu.

I followed it a ways before it realized it was being followed. It then broke into a sprint without even looking back. It somehow managed to navigate through the crowded streets while running. I calmly walked because I wouldn't be able to run a yard in the crowd, but I managed to catch a glance of a blue tail going into an alley. When I made to the alley, I turned in. I lost it, but I closed my eyes and activated my aura sight. I didn't manage to pick up what the Riolu's aura looked like when I saw it, but it was a Riolu. Riolus have stronger auras than other pokémon and regular people, so the bright thick trail of aura I found had to be Riolu's. I followed the trail through a number of alleyways until I heard talking and stopped.

"Thanks, Aaron. You are getting pretty good at this," said a voice of a boy still in his teens, judging by the sound of it.

I then heard a series of puppy-like sounds from whom I assumed belonged to the Riolu. "He said that someone saw him in the streets, but he lost them in the alleyway," said a new voice. It didn't sound too human, if that makes sense.

"What!?" shouted a third voice. This one sounded like a girl in her teens as well. "How could someone see Aaron? We can't see him when he does his light bending trick and neither can those suckers on the street. So please tell me how that could happen." She sounded a little bossy.

"It wasn't Aaron's fault," said the boy. "He can make himself invisible perfectly. Whoever this bastard was, we need to avoid him."

"Agreed," said the non-human. "I have had a run in with some humans before that would seek Aaron for his 'unique' talents. He is powerful for being just a Riolu. Just like I was."

"Well, if you are worried that I would kidnap that Riolu or Aaron or whatever his name is, then you're wrong," I said. I then walked around the corner into a dead-end alleyway. I saw the four of them surprised. There was the Riolu named Aaron, a Lucario, and a homeless looking boy and girl. The boy had a mess of brown hair and wore some old torn clothes. The girl wore similar clothes and had short brown hair. She was sitting leaning against the alley wall. What surprised me was the large bulge coming from her belly.

Aaron went to go stand behind the Lucario who was looking like he was about to attack me. The girl was indifferent and just put her hands on her belly. The boy grabbed a pipe that lay on the ground and shook it menacingly at me. "Who the hell are you?" asked the boy. "Are you one of those hunters that Balthasar talked about? If you are, we aren't going easily!"

I put my hands up and said, "I'm not a pokémon hunter, if that's what you mean. I just said that I wasn't going to take Aaron. I saw him pick pocketing in the street so I..." I couldn't finish because the boy started running towards me with his pipe.

I took a step back and put my arms up to try and form a shield. "Try" is the key word. I have been struggling to learn defensive auramancy. My gloves glowed a soft blue. The air was wavy looking where the shield was. As the boy and the pipe collided with the weak shield, it glowed a whitish blue. It didn't stop the boy or the pipe, but he seemed to be moving on slow motion as he was pushing through it. I stepped back some more and some beads of sweat rolled down my face. However, the mental strain combined with my sub-par shielding made my focus falter. The aura stopped pouring into the shield and it shattered like glass, and it looked like a thousand pieces of glass shattered to the floor before disappearing. The boy slammed the pipe into my head and I fell to the ground. Thankfully the shield slowed him enough to only knock me down and give me a minor concussion instead of a split head and blunt force trauma.

They all looked with shock at what happened. I staggered to my feet and said, "Damn it, Kid, I suck at shields. What the hell did I do?" The boy got over his shock and started coming after me again. My defensive auramancy was pathetic; however, I was a master of the offensive kind. I quickly created an aura sphere in my hand and tossed it at the pipe. It flew out of his hands several yards away, but he kept after me. Then I just sidestepped and he ran into the wall.

He was about to come after me again when I heard Balthasar say, "Stop!" The two kids looked at the Lucario. "You know the ways of Aura?" asked Balthasar.

"Obviously. I have been practicing for God knows how long. I tried to tell you I'm not a hunter, but this kid here didn't seem to get that." I pointed my thumb over my shoulder to the boy behind me.

"Amazing," said Balthasar almost on awe. "I believed Aura Guardians to be an extinct race. I knew that the aura I felt coming couldn't have been just Aaron."

"Balthasar, you don't trust him do you?" asked the boy.

"Of course I do," answered Balthasar to the shock of the other three.

"But you never trust humans," said the girl. "At least not adults like him."

"Hey, I ain't an adult. I'm 17 and won't legally be an adult until next year," I said.

"It doesn't matter," Balthasar answered. "If an Aura Guardian gives their word then they will always keep to it." He walked up to me and bowed his head. "Brother, forgive me for not trusting you earlier."

"It's okay, uh...Balthasar, right?" I asked.

"Correct. Aaron is my son," Balthasar answered.

"Well, if Balthasar trusts him, then it's good enough for me. Call me Virginia. Him over there is Dodger," said the girl.

I walked over to the boy and put my hand out. "The name's Esteban. No hard feelings?"

He pushed my hand away and walked back to the girl, and he knelt down by her.

I walked over to Aaron. "Now for the reason I'm here. What's up with the pick pocketing? It's a time for giving not taking."

"In case you can't tell, we have no home or money or food for that matter, and I am too busy taking care of Virginia to risk jail time," said Dodger. "At least Aaron can make himself invisible. Don't know how the hell you saw through it, though."

Balthasar answered, "I am sure that his ability to see and manipulate aura allowed him to see through the veil."

I looked over at Virginia and her large belly. "Well I see why you might need money. You're going to go into labor any minute now."

"Am not!" she said back. "Last time we got enough money to see the doctor he said the he won't be due for a couple more months."

"I dunno, you're pretty big," I said back. "But the point is you just can't go around stealing people's wallets. Who knows what trouble you might get into." I put my hand out to Aaron in a motion saying give me the wallets.

"Aaron, give it back," Balthasar told him. They all looked at Balthasar shocked again. Aaron did as he was told and put the wallets in my hand.

"Thank you," I said to him. "If you needed money, you do know that there is no shame in asking. Well, at least that's what my Teacher says." I reached into one of my duster pockets and pulled out a sack of coins. I tossed them on the floor next to Virginia.

She grabbed it in shock. "There has to be at least a few hundred dollars in here!"

"It's all my money, but there I can see no better way to spend it on Christmas." I started flipping through the various wallets trying to look for any I.D.s.

Dodger looked at the money and sighed. "Sorry, man," he said to me.  
"It's just that no one is ever this nice to us. I just wanted to protect my friends."

"It's okay, Kid. I would've done the same." Some of the wallets had no I.D.s so there would be no way to return them. But a few had some cards and whatnots in them. I looked at a nice, black, expensive, leather wallet. It had an "M.T." embroidered in gold on it.

I then felt a presence coming. Balthasar and Aaron looked up, and Balthasar yelled, "Watch out, Esteban!"

I was standing near the front of the alleyway now along the wall. Before I could react I felt cold metal press against the back of my skull. I would assume that I just went completely pale, because the person who just walked up behind me had their gun at by head. I raised the black wallet. "Is this yours," I said without looking back.

He grabbed the wallet out of my hand and I heard his gruff voice say, "You picked the wrong man to pickpocket, you little bastard. Whoever messes with Don Rotollo messes with Marcus Turelli, and no one messes with Turelli. At least no one alive, that is."

"Sorry..." was all I could muster to say. You would have trouble talking too if someone put a freaking gun to your head.

Rotollo then said, "So we have a thief, a slut, another bastard, and two very valuable pokémon." Virginia looked calm like she had when I came. Dodger looked like he recognized the man. Balthasar and Aaron were ready to fight again.

"Virginia's not a slut!" yelled Dodger. The gun temporarily left my head, and a shot rang out and nearly hit Dodger. It didn't make much noise, so I assumed that there was a silencer attached. I then felt the pressure on the back of my skull again.

"Quiet you!" Rotollo yelled out. "I missed on purpose!" By that time, I had gotten my nerves back. I shook my hand in front of me so Rotollo couldn't me and so I could get Balthasar's attention.

"You could've sent her into labor!" Dodger yelled back. Balthasar saw me. I didn't know sign language, but I tried my best to say that he should be ready to attack on my mark.

"She'll be going into labor any minute now, look at her!" Rotollo yelled out. Balthasar seemed to understand it message.

"Just shut up!" Virginia yelled annoyed. "I am not going into labor!" I gave the signal. I dropped to the floor while Rotollo was distracted arguing. The Lucario and Riolu then sent out a fury of aura spheres at him. He fell to the floor as the balls of energy exploded around him. I was able to get a look at him. He had on a cheap suit and dark almost black hair. I guessed he wasn't too high up on the mafia hierarchy.

"Everybody run!" I yelled out. Dodger helped Virginia to her feet and they ran as fast as a pregnant 15 year old about to give birth could run, which is not fast at all.

"Aaron, go with them to hide them," Balthasar told the Riolu. He nodded and ran to the kids. While I still saw through it, I was sure that they were invisible again. "I am staying to fight," he told me.

"We need to protect them," I agreed. Rotollo got up and I aimed my staff at him. I then unleashed a focused blast of aura at him. It knocked him down with the force of a shotgun.

"Amazing," the thug laughed. "The Boss would love this. Two rare and powerful pokémon and a super powered human. I am sure to get a promotion if I bring the three of you in. It would be like a Christmas present to me"

"You won't be able to do that!" I yelled to him.

"Watch me!" He then pulled out one of those push-to-talk phones and talked into it. "Yeah, I need the back up."

Just then a black car drove down the alleyway towards the kids and the Riolu. "Crap!" I yelled out. Rotollo just laughed as he hopped into the car. Being a Lucario, Balthasar was faster than me so he was able to catch up to the group. I tried shooting a blast of aura at the car, but it was obviously built to withstand assaults.

Shots just poured out of the car. "Idiots!" I heard Rotollo yell inside the car. "I want them alive!" Balthasar and I tried to stop the car again, but it was no use. A couple thugs got out and found the invisible group. They muscles Aaron and Virginia into the car, but Balthasar and Dodger put up more of a fight. As I was running towards them I threw a couple Aura spheres at them. It distracted them enough to allow the Lucario and the boy to throw in a couple good attacks. By the time I reached them, finally, The thugs decided that the girl and the Riolu were good enough for now. They ran into the car and it sped down the alley towards the main street.

I didn't bother stopping them, knowing my attacks would have no effect on the reinforced vehicle. I managed to catch the license plate said: "r0t-0110". How original.

The three of us just stood there looking at where the car that kidnapped Virginia and Aaron just was. After a couple minutes, Dodger burst in anger at me. "You bastard! You led them here! You did nothing to stop them and allowed my friends to fall into the hands of Turelli!"

"We can get them back. Don't worry," I said to him.

"'Don't worry'? You don't understand! This is Turelli we're talking about; the king of the Lilycove criminal underworld. What goes to him never comes back. They're screwed big time."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You seem to know a lot about this Turelli character."

"I...uh..." he stumbled, "When you live in the alleys then you learn a thing or two."

I knew that there was something that he wasn't telling me, but I let him keep it to himself. He was pissed off enough for today.

"What are we going to do?" Dodger asked. "If they are going to Turelli, then we have at most a day to save them."

He looked at Balthasar for an answer who had been quiet ever since the kidnapping. "I believe the Aura Guardian knows," was his answer. There was no emotion in his voice, but I was certain that he had no anger towards me unlike Dodger.

"Mr. Pathetic, here?" Dodger asked him sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Kid. I have a plan."

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**"Part Two: The Streets" should come the 23rd!**

**Yes, this is four years before my other story.  
**

**Like It? Hate it? Questions? Give me a review! I accept all!**


	2. Part Two: The Streets

**Part two is here! I hope you like it. I forgot the disclaimer last chapter. I don't own pokemon. I do own Esteban, Teacher, Dodger, Virginia, Rotollo, and Turelli. Merry Christmas!

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Part Two: The Streets**

"The police? Really?" asked Dodger as we entered the Lilycove Police Department. "What part of 'King of the Criminal Underworld' do you not understand?"

There were no pokémon allowed out of their pokéballs or cages in the building, but apparently things were so hectic on Christmas Eve for the few people who stayed that no one cared if Balthasar was walking next to us. "Well, that's exactly why we're here. Police catch criminals and were looking for a criminal," I said.

"Police catch criminals, but we're looking for Turelli. They know better than to cross him. He has more strings he can pull than a puppet master. He has influence in all the major criminal outfits. Rocket, Magma, Aqua, Galactic, you name it. He even has puppets in the government, which is why he can never be brought to justice."

As we were walking there was a box nearby that said lost and found. I dumped all the stolen wallets I took from Aaron in there. "Well that's lovely. But we're not looking for Turelli, just Rotollo. Besides, the entire police force can't be that corrupt, can it?"

"You'd be surprised. Still, he wouldn't let something happen to one of his employees no matter how low. Like he said: if you mess with him you mess with Turelli."

I ignored his pessimistic views as we came close to the counter. There was Christmas music playing from a small radio on the desk. In front if us was a man complaining about his dead parrot. No, really, he was. "This is an ex-parrot!" he yelled to the red-headed, overworked officer in front of him.

Dodger got his attention. "Hey, the pet shop is down the street. This is the police station." He looked around surprised by the fact that Dodger was right. He quickly apologized and left with his dead parrot.

"Thank you," she said.

I quickly put on a British accent and said, "I'd like to register a complaint."

"Oh my God," she said as she shook her head.

"Uh, sorry," I said normally. "I couldn't resist. But seriously, we need some help."

"Like I told the other man," she said, "I'd love to, but we are all extremely busy. What with the holiday and all those officers on break and the increase in petty crime. I bet that whoever stole all those wallets near the Department Store some hours ago did that just to spite me. Really!"

I eyed Dodger who muttered, "What? It was Aaron!"

I turned back to the stressed officer. "Did you check the lost and found?" I pointed to the box.

"Like they are really going to end up there?" she asked, but she got up to look anyway. When she looked her eyes widened. She grabbed her radio. "Jason, found them. They're in the station...I know seriously, they did to it just to spite me...I told you...Got to go, more problems." She walked back to her desk and said, "You're life savers. What seems to be your problem?"

"Kidnapping," I said. "What do you have on a one Don Rotollo?"

"Oh my, that's serious!" she said. "Let me search the records."

I looked over her desk to look at her computer screen. "She won't find anything," Dodger said.

"There doesn't seem to be any file about a mister Don Rotollo, sorry," she said. I looked at the kid. He had an "I told you so" look. "However, kidnapping is pretty serious. I will send word of this and..." she stopped when she received a new e-mail. "'Joy, don't go looking into this.' Odd this is from the chief's office..."

"Wait, you're a Nurse Joy?" asked Dodger. I looked at the officer and I realized that she had similar face and hair color as almost every pokémon center nurse; however, I couldn't recognize her from the police uniform and different hair style.

"It's Officer Joy. Being a nurse never interested me," she answered. She looked back at the screen. "This is strange. I'm going to look into this anyway. I won't just stand by while innocent people are being kidnapped on Christmas Eve." She got up. "Sorry, kids, I have to look into this."

She left her desk and went into another room. "I told you this was a waste of time," said Dodger. "The police won't go up against Turelli for homeless kids, a couple pokémon, and you. I won't be surprised if they find her dead in an alleyway."

I looked around. Everyone was too busy to notice Joy's abandoned station. "Balthasar," I said. He looked up. "I need you to keep watch for any hostile police or thugs that might be after us. Dodger, help me out here." The Lucario started his sentry duty, and Dodger and I went around the desk and put my staff disk on the floor. Joy was still logged on. "Let's see. A few clicks. A few types. A smack on the computer, and a little bit of aura and..." a few sparks flew out of the computer and the monitor flickered. A window popped up. "...and I think I just broke this computer's security system."

Dodger looked impressed. "How'd you do that?"

"Auramancy and technology never mix. You just have to be careful not to explode the computer while you do it." I explained. "I am pretty sure that Rotollo has a file. It's just blocked so that the police never mess with Turelli." I searched for Rotollo. "Viola. The police do care," I said as I opened a file. "Blah blah blah...large bounty...blah blah blah...murder, kidnapping, grand theft auto...blah blah blah...Oh, this is interesting. He is known to operate out a warehouse operated by Marcus Turelli in the shipyard." I turned to Dodger. "See, not a waste of time. We know where to go."

"No we don't," Dodger replied. "Turelli practically owns the shipyard. By the time we find Rotollo he would have already passed Aaron on to someone else and have dealt with Virginia."

"Well," I said back, "we just need to start looking don't we."

Dodger wanted to continue arguing, but I got up, grabbed my staff, and started heading out of the police department. Balthasar followed. "What is the plan?" he asked.

"We head to the shipyard in hopes of finding Aaron and Virginia," I said. Dodger grudgingly followed.

After a few minutes if walking down the street, I suddenly felt a familiar presence. I told the other two that I would catch up to them. I sat down on a bench next to a person reading a newspaper with a bunch of bags. "Busy day, I take it?" she asked.

"No thanks to you, Teacher," I told her with a bit of annoyance. "Thanks for just leaving me there to go shopping."

My teacher put the newspaper aside and was eating a bag full of various berries. "Well, you are going to go rescue Virginia and Aaron, right? It's not fun spending Christmas with the Mafia."

"You know I hate when you always seem to know these things?"

"That is why I am the teacher and you are the student. One day you will have an experience without me which will finally make you a true Guardian of Aura. Berry?" She offered me a berry.

I looked at her. "Why the hell are you eating a bag of berries, anyway?"

"Because they are delicious, and you have all our berries and fruits.  
Which reminds me, I got you these..." she pulled out a large fruit and a bag from one of her shopping bags. "You can never go wrong with a Christmas pineapple."

I stared at her. "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"What? It could come in handy. And it's not just a pineapple. It's a pineapple and a bag of figs and dates!" she said excitedly. "I couldn't remember which one was sweeter, but they are honest to goodness actual figs; not that figy berry crap."

I stared at her some more before taking the bag and fruit. I pulled out a dried fruit from the bag and ate it. "Mmm, figs..."

Just then, I noticed a couple cruel looking noticed. One was bald and the other had long dark hair. Baldy was taller and more built up than the long haired one. They muttered something about "that Tramp and Lucario" and asking where "that weird one" is as they passed. They were obviously some more of Rotollo's hit men. I quickly finished eating the fig and put the bag and pineapple into my one of my duster pockets.

"Seriously, why is Rotollo so pissed off about a stolen wallet?" I asked myself as I was grabbing my stuff. I then thought about the "M.T." on the wallet. "That wasn't Rotollo's wallet. That was Turelli's! Why the hell does Rotollo have Turelli's wallet?" My teacher just shrugged.

I didn't have enough time to think about it. I needed to catch up to Balthasar and Dodger before the thugs do. I got up. "Hey, there are still more things I need to give you!" complained my Teacher.

"No time!" I said to her. I started running through the crowd. As I was running, I was focusing my aura into my right hand and it started glowing its blue color. As I ran up behind grunt 1, I punched him in the back of his bald head releasing the stored energy at the same time. He fell to the ground and I just kept running so that Grunt 2 wouldn't catch me. Some of the passersby screamed as they saw me attack them. As I ran past Balthasar and Dodger I yelled, "Runrunrunrun!" They looked behind them and saw Rotollo's thugs running our way through the crowd.

They started running too, and when Dodger caught up to me he asked, "What the hell did you do?"

"Pissed them off, obviously," I answered.

"We must lose them," Balthasar said. I looked up. We were about to cross a street with traffic stopped at a stoplight. There was a bus stopped there.

"Bus!" I yelled. I glanced back. The grunts were getting closer. The light turned green as we approached the intersection. We had to cross a couple lanes of traffic. Balthasar easily jumped both lanes and landed on a small platform on the back of the bus before it started moving. Dodger weaved through the traffic easily enough so that he could climb onto the bus as it started moving. I however, was a little slow. I had to run through traffic causing the people to honk their horns, and I had to catch up with the bus. I got close before it started moving too fast and I jumped. I managed to grab a bar on the platform, and Dodger and Balthasar helped me up. The bus started moving faster, and we had to steady ourselves. I looked back and the two grunts were stuck at the intersection looking pissed. We all gave a sigh of relief and sat there on the bus resting.

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**"Part Three: The Shipyard" will be out Christmas Eve!**

**Sorry for this chapter's short length, but this is a short story after all. Also, sorry for the Monty Python reference.  
**

**Love it? Hate it? Question? Give a review! I accept all!  
**


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